


Trouble in Slenderland

by Princess_Shireen



Series: X-Over Adventures in NYC [2]
Category: Arslan Senki | Heroic Legend of Arslan, Seinfeld, Slender (Video Game), Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (TV 2012)
Genre: Daryun is very annoyed at the Seinfeld gang, Gen, Hermes and Xandes are quite the instigators, Hermes is a caring cousin in this AU, I know Azrael probably doesn't eat stuff like Froot Loops in canon but he does in this AU, Modern AU, Some Cursing, Teenage Daryun, Teenage Hermes, Teenage Narsus, Teenage Xandes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-20
Updated: 2016-08-20
Packaged: 2018-05-15 05:16:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5772712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Princess_Shireen/pseuds/Princess_Shireen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The turtles go over to Arslan's house for a party while his parents are, as usual, away. Trouble occurs while they and the others start playing Slender and end up stuck in the game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything except for my OC, Shireen. That is all.

It had been a couple weeks since the turtles met Shireen, Arslan, and his buddies. They were starting to miss their new friends, and thought of going to visit them again. Just as they were getting ready to start their evening patrol, Mikey heard his tPhone ring and looked to see who was calling him.

“Hey, it’s Arslan!” Mikey said, his eyes lighting up. His brothers looked curiously at him. “I gave him my tPhone number before we left,” he explained.

“Then answer it,” Raph said. “It could be an emergency. Maybe stupid Gieve lost Shireen again.”

Mikey answered the phone and said, “Yo, Ars! What’s up?”

 _“Hey, Mikey,”_ Arslan replied cheerfully. _“My parents are out again, and I’ve got my friends over. We’re gonna hang out and play some games. I was wondering if you and your brothers wanted to come over.”_

“You bet!” Mikey said. “We’ll be right over after our patrol.”

 _“’kay,”_ said Arslan. _“See ya.”_

After hanging up with Arslan, Mikey turned to his brothers and said, “Guys, after patrol, we’re going over to Arslan’s place. He’s having a party, and we’re invited! I can’t wait to meet his friends!”

“Cool!” Donnie said enthusiastically. “Come on, guys, let’s go. The sooner we get this patrol done, the sooner we can go to Arslan’s party.”

“Right,” Leo and Raph said, then headed out into the evening with their brothers.

* * *

 

After about a couple hours, the turtles were finished with their patrol for the night. They headed to Ecbatana Apartments. Mikey was just about to head through the lobby doors, when his brothers stopped him.

“What?” Mikey asked, sort of whining.

“I just realized: Maybe we shouldn't go over when Arslan’s other friends are present,” Leo explained.

“Huh?” Mikey asked in a confused manner. “But why not? You were excited about it before.”

“Because,” Donnie said. “We just realized they might freak out if they see four giant talking turtles just walk into Arslan’s apartment without knocking!”

“Come on, guys, don’t you think you’re being a bit too paranoid?” Mikey asked and laughed. “They’re Ars’ friends, so they’re not gonna freak out, okay?”

“Really?” Raph asked. “Last time I checked, Arslan’s other friends have never met us, Mikey!”

“That’s why we’re going to _meet_ them. Let’s just go,” Mikey said exasperatedly. “I already told Ars we’d be there after our patrol. It’s after patrol, so let’s just go to his place, okay? I’m pretty sure everything’ll be fine.”

Leo shrugged. “Okay, Mikey. We trust you. Let’s go, Donnie, Raph.” With that, the four turtles headed through the lobby doors. They bid the doorman a quick hello and good night, then took the elevator up to Arslan’s floor. After getting out, they headed to Arslan’s apartment, where they heard a bunch of cheerful noises inside. Leo knocked and waited until someone answered the door: Shireen.

Shireen looked up and her eyes lit up after seeing who was at the door. “Guys, you made it! Yay!” She quickly dragged her friends into the apartment, where, along with Arslan and Daryun, other kids were having fun. “Ars! They’re here, they’re here!”

Upon hearing his sister’s voice, Arslan quickly turned away from a blond girl he was laughing with and smiled when he saw the turtles standing in his apartment. “Guys! Good, you made it.”

The girl Arslan had been talking to joined him and stared questioningly at the turtles. “Uh, Ars…just who are these, uh, people?”

“Yeah,” a brown-haired boy said, joining Arslan as well. “And why are they wearing costumes? The Mellarks aren’t having their next costume party for another month.” Both the blond and the brunette were around Arslan's age.

“These aren’t costumes,” Mikey replied to the kids’ questions.

“And we’re technically not people,” Donnie explained further. “We’re turtles.”

“Mutant turtles!” Mikey exclaimed proudly, much to the kids’ surprise.

“Mutants?!” the girl exclaimed.

“Yeah,” Arslan replied. "Estelle, Elam, these are my new friends: Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey,” he continued, introducing the kids to his new friends. Then he said to the turtles, “Guys, these are my friends, Estelle St. Pierre, and Elam Becke. I go to school with them.”

“Nice to meet you guys,” Donnie said to Estelle and Elam.

“They don’t eat people, do they?” Estelle asked.

“No way,” Mikey said. “Our favorite food is pizza.”

“Hey, cool!” Elam said and grinned. “I like pizza, too. Especially the one from Antonio’s.”

“Hey, me, too!” Mikey said.

Leo spoke to Elam. “So, you’re this Elam that Arslan and Shireen were talking about.”

“Of course,” Elam replied. “What other Elam would they talk about?”

“Tell me something,” Leo said. “Do you, by any chance, like _Space Heroes_?”

“Heck no!” Elam exclaimed, earning himself a few glances from Arslan, Shireen, and the others. “That show’s for dorks.”

Leo hung his head and groaned, “Oh, man!” He had been hoping that Elam only said he disliked _Space Heroes_ just to avoid being laughed at by others.

“Come on, there are a couple other people I want you to meet,” said Arslan. He guided the turtles further into the living room, where Daryun and a couple other boys his age were sitting and playing a video game. "Hey, guys, I want you to meet my--" He frowned when he saw the two boys with Daryun weren't even paying attention to him.

“Hey, Daryun!” Raph called and waved to his other new friend.

Daryun put down his controller and excused himself from the game, then went up to the turtles. “Guys, you came. Good.”

“So, where’s the pizza?” Mikey asked, looking around for any sign of Antonio’s pizza boxes.

Daryun laughed and said, “Don’t worry, Mikey, we didn’t forget about the food. Actually, we’re having KFC tonight.”

“That sounds yummy!” Mikey said. “Uh, what does KFC stand for?”

“Kentucky Fried Chicken,” a voice said from behind them. The turtles turned around and saw a red-haired girl standing before them. She looked about fifteen, and was wearing a bandanna over her short hair, some weird face makeup, bellbottoms, tan boots, and a long-sleeved red and white shirt. “Hey, nice costumes,” she commented.

“Oh, they’re not costumes, Alfreed,” Shireen said excitedly. “These are my new friends: Leo, Raph, Donnie, and Mikey. They’re real turtles! Pretty cool, huh?” Then, remembering something, she continued, “Guys, this is one of Ars’ other friends, Alfreed Stark.”

“Nice to meet you, Alfreed,” Raph said.

“You’re… _real turtles_?” the girl known as Alfreed asked.

“Yup!” said Mikey.

“Uh, not to be rude, but…what are you doing at Ars’ party?” Alfreed asked, still weirded out at the fact that there were four humanoid talking turtles standing in her friend’s living room.

“He invited us, of course,” Mikey replied.

“And how exactly do you know him?” Alfreed asked.

“We met him through his little sister a couple weeks ago,” Leo said.

“How did you meet Shireen?” Alfreed asked, wondering how the turtles could possibly have met the little girl when she wouldn’t have been out late at night.

“They brought me home from the Marvel and Cato show,” Shireen said and took a swig from a can of Coca-Cola.

“The Marvel and Cato show? Please tell me Gieve went with you,” Alfreed said.

“No, he didn’t,” Arslan said in response to Alfreed’s comment. “Apparently, he was busy talking to some girl on my parents’ phone. Luckily the turtles saw to it that Rena was brought home in one piece.”

“That’s so nice of you,” Alfreed said to the turtles.

“Ah, it was nothing,” Mikey said. “Just being a good friend.” He patted Shireen’s head.

“Hey, let’s go in my room!” Arslan said excitedly. “We can play _Slen_ —“ He was interrupted when he heard Denis Leary’s “Asshole” song playing on his phone. “Hold on, it’s my dad. Be right back.” He picked up his phone and answered it, saying, “Hey, Dad. What’s up?”

“Oh, boy,” Estelle and Elam muttered under their breath.

“What?” the turtles asked in unison.

“Ars’ dad,” Elam explained. “He’s kind of an ass.”

“’Kind of’ is putting it mildly, Elam,” Estelle said. “He’s a royal butthole.”

“Come on, Estelle,” Daryun said and sighed. “Mr. Baris isn’t that bad. He’s just a pain in the butt most of the time.”

“How so?” Leo asked after hearing Arslan say, “No, Dad! I’m not making a mess! I promise!”

“Well,” Alfreed said. “Both of Ars’ parents are kind of absent and barely notice what their kids are doing half the time. When they do, it’s usually them nitpicking at a lot of stuff. Like, for example, nagging Ars about the stupid carpet. I mean, I suppose they actually do care about Ars and Rena, but still...”

“Oh,” Raph said, annoyed and rolling his eyes. _‘Poor Ars and Rena,'_ he thought. _‘Why can’t their parents be more like Splinter?’_

“Yes, Dad, I made sure my friends wiped their feet,” Arslan said in an exasperated tone. He rolled his eyes and sighed. “Okay. Yes, I know about the carpet. I know it’s expensive. I swear on the Holy Bible and Grandpa’s grave, nobody’s making a mess.” He looked at the clock on the DVR in the living room. “Listen, I’ve gotta go. We're just about to eat. Talk to you tomorrow. Bye.” He hung up and let out a deep breath. “Okay, I’m back. Sorry about that, guys. Now, let’s go to my room.”

“Hey, I’ll go get dinner, okay?” Daryun said to the other kids. “Don’t worry; someone will be here to watch you.”

“Okay,” Arslan said. “See you later, Daryun.”

“Later,” Daryun said in reply. He then went over to the two boys on the couch and said something, then left for KFC.

Shireen, Alfreed, Elam, Estelle, and the turtles all followed Arslan to his room, where his pet hawk, Azrael, was sitting on his bed. Arslan went over to the bird, smiled, and gave him a pet. “Hey, Azrael,” he said gently as Estelle took the chair in front of the computer. “Sorry I haven’t given you your snack yet, buddy.” He rummaged through his nightstand and took out a small box of Froot Loops, then poured some out and fed them to a very happy Azrael. “There ya go.”

“Okay, guys,” Estelle said in an excited voice. “Ready to play a game?”

“Sure,” said Donnie. “What kind of game?”

“This game,” Estelle said as she logged onto Arslan’s computer and clicked on an icon on the home screen. “It’s called _Slender_.”

“Ooh,” Mikey said and shivered. “Sounds spooky.”

“And spooky it is,” Estelle replied in a low voice, trying to be scary as she turned around in the chair to face the others. Mikey held onto his brothers, while Shireen held onto Arslan. “Allow me to tell you a tale: The tale of…Slender Man!”

Suddenly, the lights went off, and everyone screamed. Laughter was heard as the lights came back on. The two boys Daryun had been hanging out with earlier were standing in Arslan’s doorway, their hands holding their sides as they gasped for air. One of the boys had messy brown hair and green eyes, and was wearing jeans, sneakers, and an _Avengers_ long-sleeved T-shirt. The other one had short brown hair and brown eyes, and wore gray sweats, including a matching gray hooded sweatshirt, and dark blue sneakers.

Arslan turned to glare at the two boys. “Hermes! Xandes! What the heck?!”

The first boy, Hermes, continued laughing and said, “Man, you should’ve seen your faces!”

“Yeah!” the second boy, Xandes, added, also laughing. “You were all, ‘AAAAAHHHH!’”

Arslan sighed and pointed at the boys, then addressed the turtles. “Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey, this is my cousin, Hermes, and his friend, Xandes Burakgazi.”

“Wait…you look familiar,” Leo remarked to Hermes.

“You may know me as Lord Silvermask,” Hermes replied and grinned.

“Uh, no,” Raph said. “I think we’d know if you were that Lord Silvermask guy.”

“Wait a minute,” Mikey said. “If you’re Lord Silvermask, where’s your silver mask?”

“Right here,” Hermes replied and pulled out a silver mask. He put it over his face and said, “Recognize me now?”

“Whoa!” Donnie said. “You _are_ that Silvermask guy! I _knew_ you looked familiar! You’re the one who beat up Chris Bradford and Xever!”

“Is that who was with that Bradford ass?” Hermes said, then became surprised at Donnie’s comment. “Did I just hear you correctly? You were there the night I took down Bradford and his annoying pal?”

“Yes,” said Donnie. “So were my brothers.” He indicated Raph, Leo, and Mikey. "We were the kids Bradford and Xever were bullying."

“And I was there, too, Hermes!” Shireen happily told her cousin. “I saw the whole thing!”

“You were there, too?!” Hermes exclaimed, eyes wide as he took in what his youngest cousin had just said. “What— _How?!_ I thought you were with Gieve!”

“She wasn’t,” Arslan explained. “Gieve wasn’t watching her, so she went to see Marvel and Cato by herself, at Madison Square Garden.”

Hermes looked at Shireen. “Rena, why didn’t you just bug Gieve until he agreed to take you? You could’ve been hurt, or kidnapped, or--”

“I didn’t wanna be rude,” Shireen said. “And I _was_ safe; the turtles brought me home.”

Hermes sighed, then addressed the turtles. “Well, thanks for making sure my cousin got home safely, guys.”

“No problem,” said Leo. “Say, do you—“

“No, Leo, I’m pretty sure Hermes doesn’t like _Space Heroes_ ,” Raph interrupted his older brother.

“Sorry, I don’t,” Hermes told a disappointed Leo.

“Darn it!” Leo muttered.

“We’re just about to play _Slender_ ,” Arslan told Hermes. “You and Xandes want to play?”

“Uh, no,” Hermes replied, and he and Xandes chuckled.

“Yeah, that game’s stupid,” Xandes said in agreement.

“We’re going back to the living room,” Hermes told the kids. “We’re playing _Gods of War_.” He and Xandes left Arslan’s room.

Once Hermes and Xandes were out of sight, Estelle continued telling the turtles about the game. “Okay, the object of the game is to get out of this forest here,” she explained and showed the turtles the computer screen, which had an image of a spooky-looking forest on it.

“How are you supposed to get out?” Mikey asked, still holding onto his brothers.

“You have to gather eight notebook pages,” Estelle said. “Once you do, you’re safe, and you’ll be able to get out of Slender Man's forest.” Then her voice lowered again as she spoke next. She turned around to face everyone else. “But I must warn you: Do not, _under any circumstances_ , look at Slender Man. If you do, he’ll get closer to you. The more you stare at him, the closer he gets!”

Raph gulped, which surprised his brothers. Normally, Raphael wasn’t the type to get scared of ghost stories, or scary computer games, so easily. “What happens if he gets right up in your face?”

“He kills you,” Estelle said with a straight face and even lower voice. Everybody screamed once again as the lights went out a second time. The kids heard laughter again as the lights came back on, revealing, once more, Hermes and Xandes in the doorway, laughing hysterically.

“Dammit, Hermes, Xandes!” Arslan yelled angrily, while Azrael screeched in an angry manner as well. Arslan was, once again, hugging Shireen, who was now crying into his shirt. "Look what you did, jerks!"

“Yeah, you made Shireen and Mikey cry!” Alfreed--who had been holding onto Elam just a few seconds ago--yelled and gestured to Shireen and a crying Mikey. Leo and Donnie said gently, “It’s alright, Hermes and Xandes are just being instigators.”

"Do it again!" Estelle and Raph said angrily.

"Yeah, we _dare_ you!" Arslan and Alfreed yelled in agreement.

“Geez, guys, lighten up,” Xandes said.

“Yeah,” said Hermes.

“No!” Arslan replied. “You scared Rena and Mikey! They’re crying now! This isn’t funny, you know.”

"One more time, guys, and I'll kick you where it _really_ hurts!" Estelle yelled at the teens in the doorway. "Don't think I won't!"

"Yeah!" Elam said in agreement. "She'll do it, you know." He glared at Hermes and Xandes.

“Okay, okay, we’re sorry,” Hermes said. He and Xandes left the room, leaving the kids to calm down enough to start playing their game.


	2. Chapter 2

After Hermes and Xandes left for the living room, Estelle stayed in the computer chair. She decided she should show the turtles how exactly to play this game.

“Alright,” she said, controlling her character by pressing various keys on the keyboard. “See how my character’s moving through the forest?” She continued pressing keys, manipulating her character’s actions. “You use the keys in order for him or her to achieve the object of the game.”

“Hey, I see a piece of paper there,” Donnie pointed out. He indicated a sheet of paper tacked onto a tree.

“Awesome!” Estelle exclaimed and ran towards the paper. After her character grabbed it, a message popped up. It said, _“1/8”_. “I just got my first sheet of paper. Good eye, Donnie.”

“Thanks,” Donnie said and smiled.

“Hey, that’s pretty cool!” Mikey said as Estelle kept searching the forest for more paper.

“Uh, who’s that guy there?” Raph asked, pointing to a faceless man wearing a suit. The man was standing right in front of Estelle’s character.

“Oh, crap!” Estelle groaned. “Slender Man. Okay, I’ve already stared at him once. If this happens too much, I’m dead.”

“What happens then?” Leo asked.

“I lose the game and have to start over,” Estelle replied.

“Yeah, this game’s pretty tough,” Arslan agreed. “Even though all you have to do is find eight sheets of paper.”

“Yeesh,” Raph commented.

“Alright,” Estelle said to herself as she kept playing. “Just need seven more freaking sheets of paper. Must avoid Slender—DAMMIT!” She silently unleashed a string of curses as Slender Man came into her line of vision a second time.

“Ah, dammit,” Shireen blurted out.

“Shireen Kaya Baris,” Arslan said in a warning tone, causing Shireen to grin sheepishly.

“I wonder when Daryun’s getting back with the food,” Alfreed said as Slender Man finally defeated Estelle’s character. “I’m starving.”

“Me, too,” said Mikey.

“Man!” Estelle said and got out of the chair. She motioned to the computer and asked, “Does anybody else wanna try?”

“Oh, me, me, me!” Shireen said and raised her hand. She eagerly bounced up and down so much that nobody could say no. She hopped off Arslan’s bed and seated herself at his computer, then started playing the game.

“How many pieces of paper did you end up finding?” Leo asked Estelle.

“Only four,” Estelle replied.

“But that’s good,” Donnie said happily. “That’s only half of eight.”

“Yeah, but—“ Estelle said, but was interrupted by Shireen yelling curses at Slender Man.

“Goddammit, Slendy!” Shireen exclaimed as Slender Man appeared in her way for the first time. “Just let me find the rest of the fucking pages!”

“Shireen!” Arslan exclaimed as Shireen kept playing. “Where did you hear such talk? Certainly not from Mom, me, or even Uncle Osroes.”

“From Dad and Hermes, actually,” Shireen replied.

“Dad, Hermes,” Arslan said to himself, embarrassed to be related to those guys.

“Rena, there’s a page right there,” Elam pointed out.

“Thanks, Elam,” said Shireen.

“Oh, no, watch out!” Arslan said when Slender Man appeared again.

“Yikes!” Shireen exclaimed, narrowly avoiding Slender Man. “Thanks, bro.”

“No problem,” Arslan said.

“Hey, Elam, you’re after Rena,” Alfreed reminded the brunette.

“Okay,” said Elam. Just then, his phone rang. He picked it up and looked at the caller ID. “Narsus? _Now?_ Guys, I’ve gotta take this. Be right back.” He went out of the room and into the hallway, so as not to break Shireen’s concentration.

“Narsus’s calling _now_?” Estelle asked, slightly groaning.

Not too long after Shireen lost the game, Elam came back in. “Guys, sorry about this,” he said. “But Narsus needs me for a little bit. He somehow messed up a load of laundry.”

 _“Seriously?”_ Estelle said and laughed. Alfreed glared at her. “That guy needs to learn how to do his own laundry. He’s sixteen, for crying out loud!”

“Hey, don’t laugh at my Narsus!” Alfreed shouted and pulled Estelle’s hair.

“Owowowowow!” Estelle screeched until Arslan pulled Alfreed off her. “Okay, okay, sorry!”

“Okay, Elam, go take care of Narsus,” Arslan said, understanding his friend’s situation. “We’ll see you later.”

“’kay,” said Elam. “Later.” He got his shoes on and left the apartment.

“Who’s Narsus?” Leo asked after Estelle and Alfreed calmed down.

“Elam’s big brother,” Arslan replied.

“And my future husband!” Alfreed added dreamily.

“Dream on,” Estelle said. “He doesn’t even like you.”

“He does too!” Alfreed retorted. “My Narsus just doesn’t know it yet.”

“Whatever,” Estelle muttered under her breath. “Okay, Ars, your turn.”

“Okay,” said Arslan. He got in the chair and started trying his hand at _Slender_.

“So, Shireen,” Donnie said. “How many pages did you get?”

“Only two,” Shireen said sadly. “I stink.”

“No you don’t,” Arslan said gently as he grabbed a fifth page. “You’re getting there.”

“Hermes says I stink,” said Shireen.

“Well, I’ll kick his butt later,” said Arslan.

“Ars? _You_ , kicking someone’s butt?” Estelle asked and chuckled at the very thought. “No offense, but you’re too nice to do that.”

“Really?” Arslan replied and turned to Estelle. “You think I’m too nice?”

“ _Arslan Baris_ , too nice?” Alfreed asked. “Seriously, Estelle, you should’ve seen him when some gang asses tried mugging his dad! He was scary!”

“No way!” Raph said incredulously. “C’mon, you must be exaggerating! There’s no way Ars can be scary!”

“Try me,” Arslan said calmly as he grabbed a sixth page. “Oh, man!” he said some minutes later as Slender Man killed his character.

“You were close,” Estelle said.

“Yeah,” Arslan agreed.

Alfreed checked the clock beside Arslan’s bed. “8:38. I wonder what’s taking Daryun so long.”

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at Kentucky Fried Chicken, Daryun was waiting in line at the counter. He tapped his foot impatiently as four people—three men and one woman—were goofing around in front of him while the poor guy at the register waited for them to tell him their orders.

The woman banged her hands on the counter in an obnoxious manner, while one of the men somehow slipped on nothing and fell to the floor, knocking a baby boy’s sippy cup out of his hands. The baby cried until his older sister picked up the cup and gave it back to him. The baby’s older brother glared at the fallen man.

“Hey, why do they call this place Kentucky Fried Chicken if it’s all over the country?” one of the other men asked jokingly. “They should call this place New York City Chicken.”

“Shut up, Jerry,” one of the other men—short, stocky, and wearing glasses—said. “Hurry up, Elaine,” he whined to the woman at the counter. “I can feel my stomach sucking up against my spine!”

The woman known as Elaine continued to bang her hands on the counter and looked at the menu. She finally decided what to order, but was still obnoxious about it. “Okay, okay, I’ll, uh, have an 8-piece, and—what’s that with the potatoes, gravy?”

“Yeah,” the guy at the counter replied.

“Not a big fan of your gravy,” Elaine replied, then made a couple gagging noises.

Daryun had had enough and yelled at the top of his lungs. “Will you shut the hell up?! Other people here are hungry, dammit! I just want to get my food, and get home to my charges! So, either tell this poor guy your stupid order, or get out!”

The four people scurried out of KFC without their order, frightened of the teen behind them. Everyone else behind Daryun applauded him; even the baby, his siblings, and their mother clapped and cheered. Same went for the cashier who, only moments before, had been the victim of the quartet who left.

Daryun went up to the counter, ready to tell the guy his order. The guy said, “Hey, thanks, man. For what you did, you can have your meal at half-price.”

“Really?” Daryun said happily. “Thanks.” He told the guy his order, then waited patiently for his food to be prepared. Once the food was ready, he paid, took the food with him, and exited the restaurant.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the four obnoxious people (from Seinfeld):  
> Guy who fell down: Cosmo Kramer  
> Not-so-funny-guy who made a stupid joke about KFC: Jerry Seinfeld  
> Short, stocky guy: George Costanza  
> Obnoxious woman: Elaine Benes
> 
> And the mom and kids in KFC were the mom and kids from the Keep of Saint Emmanuel from a later episode of Arslan Senki.


	3. Chapter 3

While Daryun was walking back to Arslan's place, Alfreed was taking her turn on _Slender_ ; Leo and Raph had already taken their turns, and lost badly. She had just gotten her fifth page, and was now looking for the sixth. As she moved through the forest, she got stopped by Slender Man for the umpteenth time. This time, her character died, and the words _“Game Over”_ flashed across the screen.  
  
“Ooh, tough break, Alfreed,” Raph said as Alfreed got out of the chair. He looked around at everybody else and asked, “Okay, who’s next?”  
  
“I am,” Donnie replied and walked over to the computer. He sat in the chair and said, “Okay, Slendy, let’s see you try and kill _me_.”  
  
“Remember, this game isn’t as easy as it looks,” Leo reminded his younger brother. “So try not to get too frustrated if you lose.”  
  
“Oh, like _you_ did when _you_ lost?” Raph asked and smirked.  
  
“I did not!” Leo protested.  
  
“Yeah, you did, dude,” Mikey said.  
  
“Yeah, here’s you,” Estelle said and started imitating Leo. “’Waah, waah, I lost! This game’s rigged!’”  
  
“Sh-shut up!” Leo exclaimed and glared at Raph, Mikey, and Estelle. “I did not act like that!”  
  
“Did so!” Mikey and Raph shot back.  
  
“Guys—“ Arslan began, but was interrupted by more of his friends’ arguing.  
  
“Did not!” Leo yelled.  
  
“Did so!” said Mikey. Alfreed and Donnie rolled their eyes.  
  
“Did not!” said Leo.  
  
“Uh, yeah you did,” said Mikey.  
  
“No, I didn’t,” said Leo.  
  
“Really?” Estelle asked and laughed. “Then what was that whining we all heard earlier?”  
  
Alfreed checked Arslan’s clock. “Hey, it’s a quarter after 9. Where the heck is Daryun? _And_ Elam?” Everybody ignored her, which caused her to roll her eyes again.  
  
“I wasn’t whining!” Leo exclaimed.  
  
“Yeah, you were, Greeny!” Estelle shouted back.  
  
“I’m warning you!” Leo snarled. “You don’t want to make me angry.”  
  
“Ooh, really, Bruce Banner?” Estelle said, getting in Leo’s face. “What’re ya gonna do? Smash me?”  
  
“Would you like to find out, Blondie?” Leo asked angrily. He hit one palm with a fist.  
  
“Let’s see what you’ve got!” Estelle said back, getting ready to fight the turtle.  
  
Arslan had enough and got in between his two friends. “Guys! Come on, cut it out.” Both Leo and Estelle stopped, embarrassed at how they were acting.  
  
“Sorry, Ars,” Estelle said and stepped away from Leo.  
  
“Me, too,” said Leo. He joined Donnie at the computer.  
  
“Good,” Arslan said and smiled. “Now, let’s just watch Donnie play.”  
  
“Thanks,” Donnie said and started playing. He maneuvered his character through the forest so quickly—despite being stopped by Slender Man several times—that everyone stared in amazement at how many pages he was collecting.  
  
“Wow!” Mikey gasped. “ _Seven pages?_ You’re a wiz at this, D!”  
  
“Thanks, Mikey,” Donnie replied happily as he continued through the forest.  
  
“I don’t think any one of us here have ever gotten seven pages,” Shireen said in awe.  
  
“Okay, just one more—Oh, darn it,” Donnie groaned as Slendy killed his character. The words _“Game Over”_ flashed across the screen once again. Donnie got out of the chair and joined his friends.  
  
“Hey, you were close,” Arslan said cheerfully as he ducked under his bed. He emerged some minutes later with a big box. He opened it, revealing its contents: a variety of snacks. Then he took a tarp off what appeared to be some kind of table, revealing it to actually be a mini fridge. Upon taking a look inside, the turtles saw it contained a bunch of drinks. “I think we’ve all earned a snack. Take your pick, guys.”  
  
“Awesome!” Mikey exclaimed, grinning as he and everybody else reached into the box and the fridge, taking whatever snacks and drinks they wanted.  
  
“I was wondering when you were gonna bring out the goods,” Estelle said and took a swig from a can of Dr. Pepper.  
  
After a few minutes, Leo asked Arslan, "I was wondering something: How come you have a mini fridge and a box under your bed?"  
  
"Because Hermes always steals my snacks and drinks whenever he comes over, which is a lot," Arslan replied. "It's annoying. That's why I hide my stuff in here."  
  
"Gee Wiz, what a jerk," Mikey said through a mouthful of Sour Cream and Onion Pringles.  
  
"Yeah," said Arslan. "I actually can't believe I'm related to him, or my dad."  
  
"I can run a DNA test for you, if you want," Donnie offered after finishing off a bag of Cheetos.  
  
"I think I'll take you up on that," Arslan replied.  
  
_**"Yummy, yummy, yummy! I've got cupcake in my tummy!"**_ Shireen sang happily while softly bouncing up and down on her brother's bed.  
  
"Awww," Estelle said and laughed.  
  
After everyone finished their snacks, Mikey decided to take his turn on the computer. He sat down, then asked Arslan if he could check his email first. After Arslan granted him permission, Mikey opened the browser, logged into his email, and proceeded to check his messages.  
  
"Just be careful to not open any messages, unless you _absolutely know, for sure,_ where they're from," Donnie warned.  
  
"Relax, D, I know what I'm doing," said Mikey.  
  
"My laptop would beg to differ," Donnie said.  
  
"You're still on that?" Mikey asked while reading his mail. "That happened, like, a long time ago."  
  
"No, it happened _yesterday_ ," said Donnie. "For the third time. _Of this week._ "  
  
"Still," said Mikey.  
  
"Hey, what's that?" Alfreed asked, pointing at a message on the computer.  
  
Mikey saw the message and said, "What the...?"  
  
_"'So you like to play games, huh, turtles?'"_ Alfreed read out loud. Everyone else gathered around the computer and looked at the message.  
  
"Who do you think sent it?" Raph asked.  
  
"Maybe the Shredder?" Mikey suggested.  
  
"Mikey, why would the Shredder email us?" Leo asked. "If he wanted to confront us, he'd send someone directly. Or just come at us himself.  
  
"Just throwing it out there as a possibility," Mikey said. He hovered the mouse over a link in the message.  
  
"Who's the Shredder?" Arslan asked.  
  
"Let's just say he's someone we know," Raph replied.  
  
"Is he a bad person?" Shireen asked.  
  
" _Very_ bad," said Raph. "He...Mikey, what are you doing?"  
  
"Mikey, no! Don't click on that!" Donnie exclaimed. Too late. Mikey had clicked on the link. He and the others jumped away from the computer as the screen started to glow.  
  
"What the heck is going on?" Estelle asked. She screamed as she was pulled towards the computer.  
  
"No!" Arslan screamed and grabbed Estelle from behind. He managed to pull her away from the computer and towards the door.  
  
"That was close," Estelle said shakily. "Thanks, Ars."  
  
"Help!" Mikey exclaimed as he was pulled, very quickly, towards the computer. His brothers tried to grab him, but were unsuccessful. Mikey was pulled into the computer.  
  
"Mikey! No!" Leo yelled. He, too, was pulled towards the computer. Raph and Donnie each grabbed onto him, but all three of them, and Alfreed were pulled into the computer.  
  
"Uh...Hermes..." Arslan called through the door as he held on tight to Estelle and Shireen. "Hermes! Xandes! Help!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he watched his sister and friend being pulled, screaming, into the computer. "No! Give them...AAAHHH!" He held onto the mini fridge while Azrael grabbed a part of his shirt. "Hermes!"

* * *

 

Hermes and Xandes had just finished a round of _Gods of War_ and were talking and laughing about _Slender_.  
  
"I really can't believe your cousins play that stupid game," Xandes said through gasps of laughter. He doubled over in another fit of laughter and continued, "How exactly are you related to them again?"  
  
"They're my first cousins," Hermes replied. "They're my dad's brother's kids."  
  
"Still," said Xandes. He and Hermes stopped laughing when they heard Arslan screaming for Hermes.  
  
_"Hermes! Please, Hermes, help me!"_ Arslan shouted frantically.  
  
Hermes abruptly stood up, just as Daryun walked in the door.  
  
"Guys, I'm back," Daryun said, then became alarmed at the sound of Arslan screaming for help. "Hermes, Xandes, what's going on?!" He followed the duo to Arslan's room.  
  
"Oh my God!" Hermes and Daryun exclaimed after opening the door. They saw, to their horror, Arslan hanging onto the mini fridge for dear life, Azrael holding onto part of the boy's shirt. They and Xandes rushed into the room. Xandes tried (unsuccessfully) turning off the computer, while Hermes and Daryun each grabbed one of Arslan's arms.  
  
"Don't worry, we're here!" Daryun assured his scared friend.  
  
"Don't let go!" Arslan said.  
  
"We won't," said Hermes.

"Guys..." Arslan said. "Sh-Shireen, a-and the others...they're--" He was interrupted by the force inside the computer pulling him harder. "No! No, I don't wanna go!"

Daryun and Hermes tightened their hold. Unfortunately, a few moments later, they and Azrael lost their grip--Azrael accidentally tearing a part of Arslan's shirt.  
  
"Ars!" Hermes exclaimed.  
  
"Hermes! Daryun!" Arslan shouted as he, finally, was pulled into the computer.  
  
Daryun ran over to the now still computer and shook it, shouting, "No! Whoever did this, give him back!"  
  
Hermes dropped to his knees, distraught over what happened. "Ars...Rena...Why did I pick on them?" Xandes tried standing his friend up, but Hermes sank back to the floor.  
  
Daryun stepped away from the computer, shaking. "This..."  
  
"This is bad," said an equally horrified Xandes. Azrael flew around the room, screeching frantically, trying to get into the computer.  
  
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" said Hermes. He finally stood up and looked at Daryun and Xandes. "What the hell do we do now?! We need to save Ars, Rena, and their friends!"  
  
Daryun thought for a minute. Then he said, "We need to get to Narsus and Elam's place. Right now." Hermes and Xandes nodded and followed Daryun out of Arslan's room. Hermes popped back in and gave Azrael a pet.  
  
"It's okay, Azrael," Hermes said. "We'll get Ars and the others back." Before he could leave Arslan's room, he noticed an open message, and that the email was in Mikey's inbox. He called Daryun and Xandes back into the room and showed them the message.

" _'So you like to play games, huh turtles?'_ " Xandes read. He looked from the computer to his friends. "That's strange. I wonder what that's about."

"Come on," Daryun said urgently. "Let's get to Narsus and Elam's and figure this out." He, Hermes, and Xandes hurried out of Arslan's room, and headed out the door.


	4. Chapter 4

Arslan, Shireen, and their friends landed with a thud on the ground. They moaned in pain after landing.  
  
"Man, what a wild trip that was," Mikey said. "What'd I land on?" The youngest turtle looked down and saw he had landed on Raph. "Oh, hey, Raph!"  
  
"Get off me!" Raph snapped and pushed Mikey off his back.  
  
"What was that we just went through?" Alfreed asked.  
  
"Off the top of my head, I'd say it was some type of portal," Donnie replied.  
  
"Guys, do you realize where we are?" Leo asked, looking around at their surroundings. As everyone else took in their surroundings, they noticed they were in the middle of a dark forest.  
  
"Wait," said Raph. "Weren't we just in Arslan's apartment? How did we get in the middle of the woods?!"  
  
"I think it's got something to do with that portal we were sucked through," said Arslan.  
  
"Oh my gosh!" Estelle exclaimed and pulled at her long hair, her golden eyes widening with fright. "You know what this means?! We're in a parallel dimension, and it's probably populated by monsters! Oh my God!"  
  
"Calm down, Estelle!" Alfreed yelled and slapped the younger teen across her face. "I'm pretty sure there are no demons here!" Her expression changed from confused and frantic to puzzled as she continued, "Though there _is_ something strangely familiar about this forest."  
  
Raph thought for a minute, then said, "Yeah, you're right. Where have we seen this place before?"  
  
"It looks a lot like Slender Man's forest, from the game," Shireen piped up.  
  
Donnie froze right after hearing what Shireen said. "Oh my God. I think you might be right."  
  
"What do you mean?" Arslan asked.  
  
"I think we might be in the game itself!" said Donnie.  
  
Raph looked at his brother and asked, "Donnie, did you catch Mikey-itis?"  
  
"Hey!" Mikey exclaimed, glaring at Raph. "I'm right here!"  
  
"No, I'm serious, Raph!" said Donnie. "I think we were transported into the _Slender_ game!"  
  
Soon after Donnie finished talking, the kids heard a disembodied male voice laughing.  
  
_"Right you are, Donatello,"_ the voice sneered. _"It's easy to see why you're the brains of this team. Too bad it's not enough to save any of your lives!"_ The voice laughed maliciously once again.  
  
Shireen whimpered and hid behind Arslan. "Who's that?"  
  
"Who the hell are you?!" Estelle exclaimed and stood in front of Arslan and Shireen.  
  
"I know that voice all too well," said Leo.  
  
"Blixter Speckman!" Raph added.  
  
_"It's **Baxter Stockman**!"_ the voice snapped in an indignant manner. _"When will you turtles get it right?!"_  
  
"What's the big idea, Stinkbrain?!" Mikey asked angrily. "What are we doing in here?"  
  
_"Okay, first of all, it's **Stockman** ,"_ Baxter Stockman replied. _"And secondly, why do you think you're in here? My revenge!"_  
  
"You're not still sore at us for beating you up, destroying your robot, and then throwing you in a dumpster, are you?" Mikey asked. "Because if you are, it's not our fault that happened to you."  
  
_"I finally had the power to get revenge on those who did me wrong, and you turtles took it away from me!"_ Baxter said.  
  
"Okay, I'm really confused. Who _is_ this guy?" Alfreed asked the turtles.  
  
"Some wannabe villain we defeated a while back," said Raph.  
  
"I think it was before we met Arslan and Shireen," said Donnie.  
  
"Look, Stockman, your grudge is with _us_ ," Leo said. "Leave our friends out of this. Just let them go back home, and you can deal with _us_."  
  
_"I could do that,"_ said Baxter. _"But I don't want to! I think it'd be much more entertaining to keep them in here with you."_  
  
"You bastard!" Arslan exclaimed and put his arms around his scared sister. He glared upwards, in the direction of Baxter's voice. "Let us go, now!"  
  
_"Not a chance!"_ Baxter said. _"The only way you're getting out of here is if you find the clues hidden in this forest! But I doubt you'll be able to find them."_ He laughed maniacally.  
  
Raph crossed his arms and said, "So, in other words, you just expect us to play the game?"  
  
_"Exactly,"_ said Baxter. _"But I wouldn't count on winning; as you well know, it's next to impossible. Finally! I will have my revenge, and you turtles will rue the day you decided to make a fool out of Baxter Stockman!"_ He laughed again, then was heard choking. The kids looked confused, until Baxter said, _"I swallowed a fly. Stockman signing off."_  
  
After Baxter signed off, Estelle asked, "Well, what do we do now?"  
  
"It's obvious, isn't it?" Arslan said. "We start playing the game, at least long enough for Daryun, Hermes, and Xandes to get a hold of Elam."  
  
"Elam?" Leo asked. "What can he do?"  
  
"He's a very skilled hacker. There's a pretty good chance he might be able to find a way to get us out of here, probably through that Stockman guy's email," Arslan replied and smiled.  
  
"That shouldn't be too hard," said Mikey.  
  
"Remember, We also have to avoid Slender Man in the meantime," said Leo.  
  
"If Slendy gets within three feet of me, I'm gonna run my sai right through his slender head!" Raph yelled.  
  
"I'm not sure you'll be able to do that here," Estelle told Raph. "That guy's made of data. And even if he's not, he's a ghost."  
  
"Let's just concentrate on finding those clues right now," said Donnie. "It might be best to just avoid looking at Slender Man."  
  
"With Donnie on our team, that won't be a problem!" Mikey said confidently.  
  
"Mikey, you're embarrassing me," Donnie said quietly.  
  
"Alright, let's move!" Leo said. He and everyone else started walking through the forest.

* * *

Meanwhile, at Narsus and Elam's place, Elam had just finished fixing Narsus' laundry mishap. He shook his head and stared up at his older brother.  
  
"Seriously, Narsus," Elam said to the blond older teen. "When are you going to learn how to do your own laundry?"  
  
Narsus huffed indignantly and looked at his little brother. "I'm doing the best I can, Elam. Surely it took _you_ a long time to figure out how to work this thing." He pointed to the off-white washing machine.  
  
"No, not really," Elam replied, to Narsus' embarrassment. He and Narsus left the laundry room when they heard footsteps coming from the living room. They looked to see Daryun, Hermes, and Xandes in their house.  
  
"Guys, what's up?" Elam asked.  
  
"You could knock, you know!" Narsus interjected.  
  
"So sorry for not being courteous, Narsus," Daryun replied sarcastically. Then his tone turned more serious when he said, "But this is an emergency! We need Elam!"  
  
"What's going on?" Elam asked, confused by Daryun's tone of voice, and the trio's frantic faces.  
  
"Arslan and the others got sucked into the computer," Xandes said.  
  
"I'm sorry... _What?_ " Narsus asked in disbelief.  
  
"They were playing _Slender_ ," Hermes explained. "I'm assuming they took a break, because after they got sucked in, we saw an open window. We saw it was for Mikey's email account. There was an open message that said, _'So you like to play games, huh, Turtles?'_ "  
  
"We tried to save them from being sucked in, but it was too late!" said Xandes.  
  
"This all sounds very hard to believe," said Narsus. "But you guys don't panic for nothing, so I'm going to assume that this is true. And who's Mikey?"

"Mikey's one of Ars' other friends," Hermes explained.

"Let me get to my computer and get that email up," said Elam. Narsus, Daryun, Hermes, and Xandes followed him to his room. "Maybe by accessing that message, I can figure out what I can do to help."  
  
"Thank you, Elam!" Daryun and Hermes both said in relief as Elam sat at his computer.  
  
Narsus looked at Elam, then at his friends and smiled. "You know, sometimes it's good to have a hacker for a brother."  
  
Minutes later, Elam successfully hacked into Mikey's email account. Narsus asked him how he knew Mikey's password.  
  
"Ars told me before that odds are Mikey's password would be something pizza-related," Elam explained. "So I started by typing the word _pizza_. It worked." He scrolled through Mikey's messages, until he came upon the one Mikey had clicked on. After examining the message, Elam saw it was from someone with the username "SuperGenius". Using his skills, he discovered that "SuperGenius" was, in real life, Baxter Stockman!  
  
"Baxter Stockman..." Narsus said. "Wait a minute! I know of that nutcase! He terrorized TCRI a while back!"  
  
"What could he want with Ars and his friends?" Hermes asked.  
  
"I don't know," said Elam. "But if we can get Ars and the others out of there, maybe they could shed some light on this."


	5. Chapter 5

Meanwhile, in the game, the turtles and friends were searching the woods for a third page, having already found two. Estelle broke the silence with a question.

"So what's the deal with this Stockman guy? Was he _always_ this psycho?"

Leo sighed and shrugged. "Your guess is as good as mine. When it comes to us, he's just mad about us ruining his plans for destruction."

"I'm sorry... _What?!_ " Arslan asked, eyes wide with surprise.

"I should explain," Donnie said. "From what I understand, he wanted revenge on TCRI because his boss fired him over a copy machine incident. He tried using one of my inventions to do it! Would've succeeded had we not stopped him. My guess is he's one of those guys who were bullied as a kid, but never got over it."

"Well, I'm sorry he was probably bullied as a kid, but that doesn't make it okay to terrorize people after being fired," Alfreed said while searching a tree. She sighed in frustration and shook her head. "Still no pages. Dammit!" She stamped her foot and ran to catch up with the others.

"Where do you find these nuts?" Arslan asked.

"Usually they find _us_ ," Mikey replied.

"Ooh!" Donnie exclaimed happily and ran towards a tree. "Another page!" He grabbed the page off its tack and showed it to the others.

"Awesome!" Shireen said and kept on walking with the others.

"I swear to God, if we get out of here, I am gonna grab Stinkman's throat and strangle him!" Estelle yelled, making a strangling motion with her hands. She turned to Arslan, Shireen, and Alfreed and continued, "Remember Narsus' Panama hat? That's _nothing_ compared to what Stinkbreath's gonna get when I get my hands on him!" The turtles shook where they stood.

"Oh, great," Leo said quietly. " _Another_ Raph."

"A _girl_ Raph," Donnie added.

Mikey laughed. "Stinkbreath? Hey, Estelle, can I use that?"

"Sure, go ahead," Estelle said.

"Panama hat?" Raph asked in confusion.

"I'll explain later," Arslan replied. "Right now, we've got five more pages to find."

"Guys, I found one!" Shireen called. She grinned as she held up the page she found.

"That's great, Shir--Oh my God!" Estelle rushed over to the little girl and held her to her chest, covering her face while looking at a faceless man wearing a suit. She averted her gaze and had her eyes closed and ran back to the others.

"What's wrong?" Arslan asked after Estelle put Shireen down. He saw that Estelle looked really scared and knew it wasn't good.

Estelle let out a shaky breath and had to steady herself by grabbing Arslan's shoulders. "It's Sl-Slender M-Man...I saw him! Rena would've seen him, too, if I hadn't covered her eyes!"

"This isn't good," Donnie said.

"Let's keep going before he comes back," Alfreed said worriedly as everyone ran from the tree, the fourth page in their possession.

"Let's hope Elam can get us out of here soon," Arslan said.

Leo looked at Arslan and asked, "Are you absolutely sure he can get us out of here?"

"Of course," Arslan replied. "I told you before, Leo, and you better believe it: Elam's a very skilled hacker. His skills, by far, are unmatched."

"I know someone who can give him a run for his money," Mikey said and shot Donnie a look.

"Why don't we wait till we get out of here to judge that?" Alfreed suggested.

"Good plan," said Donnie. The pals continued searching for pages.

* * *

Back at Narsus and Elam's house, Daryun was frantically pacing back and forth, Xandes drummed his fingers on the desk, and Hermes tapped his foot, all while Elam kept his eyes on the computer screen. Narsus, on the other hand, was becoming quite annoyed at the three teens' antics. After several minutes, he couldn't contain himself any longer.

"Will you three stop it?! That tapping is driving me crazy!" Narsus switched his glare from Hermes and Xandes to Daryun. "And, Daryun, stop that infernal pacing! You're going to make a hole in Elam's floor!" The trio Narsus addressed stopped what they were doing.

"Sorry, Narsus," Daryun said quietly as he sat down on Elam's bottom bunk. "We're just really on edge right now."

"Yeah," Hermes said. "It's just-- " Before he could finish, they all heard a knock at the door.

Daryun stood up and said, "I'll get it." He left the room and went to the living room to answer the door. He opened the door to see that Gieve was there with another friend of theirs, Farangis Ravenclaw, a sixteen-year-old girl with long black hair, wearing a white tanktop with blue jeans and tan sandals. The both of them stepped into the apartment.

"Farangis, Gieve," Daryun said as he and the duo stood in the living room. "What are you two doing here?"

"I'm here to return a book Narsus lent me," Farangis replied. "Gieve's just my ride. We're not on a date."

"You don't need to deny it, my lovely Farangis," Gieve said and put his arm around her.

"I'm not denying anything," an annoyed Farangis said and thrust Gieve's arm off. "Is Narsus here?"

"Yeah, right this way," Daryun said. "Make yourselves at home." He rushed to Elam's room, leaving the two teens sitting on the couch.

As Gieve and Farangis were waiting for Narsus, Farangis asked, "I'm confused. Wasn't Daryun watching Arslan and Shireen tonight?"

Gieve stretched and yawned, then said, "Maybe he got his uncle, or Hermes, to do it. Doesn't matter." He placed his arm around Farangis' shoulders.

Farangis rolled her eyes and took Gieve's arm off her. Then she pointed to an armchair and said, "Go sit over there." Gieve pouted and slunk over to the armchair.

Two seconds later, Narsus came into the living room with Daryun and said, "Sorry to keep you waiting, Farangis."

"No problem," Farangis said and stood up. She handed a book to Narsus. "Here's your _Eragon_ book. I enjoyed it a lot!"

"I thought you would," said Narsus.

"What's Daryun doing here?" Farangis asked as Gieve got out of the armchair. "I thought he was babysitting Arslan and Shireen tonight."

"Oh, he needed Elam's expertise," Narsus lied with a grin.

"Daryun's computer literate enough," said Farangis.

"Oh...Well, Elam and I are critiquing his art project," Narsus said. "You know much of a bonehead he is when it comes to art." He laughed in Daryun's direction.

"Hey!" Daryun said and got in Narsus' face. "I know a lot about art, and I know you can't make any!"

"That's _your_ opinion!" Narsus retorted, getting in Daryun's face. "You dolt!"

"Hey, don't call _me_ a dolt, you wannabe Da Vinci!" Daryun said back.

"Shut up, you uncultured swine!" Narsus said.

"Uh, is this a bad time?" Farangis asked. "Because we can go home if you'd like."

"Yeah, maybe you should," said Daryun.

Farangis and Gieve were just getting ready to leave, when they heard Hermes' now happy exclamation.

"Guys, great news!" Hermes said with a big smile. "Elam thinks he may have located Arslan and the others!" He saw the two teens by the front door and said, "Oh, hey, Gieve, Farangis! How are you doing?"

"What is going on here?" Farangis asked, her hands on her hips. "And what's Hermes doing here?"

Daryun shot Hermes a glare and muttered, "Nice, going, Lord Silverdope."

"How was I supposed to know it was a secret?" Hermes asked. "And how was I supposed to know Gieve and Farangis would be coming by?"

"What made you think you should just blurt out information like that freely?!" Daryun asked back, while Narsus got ready to hold Daryun back if need be.

"Excuse me," Gieve said. "Is something wrong here?"

Daryun sighed and said, "I guess we should tell them since they're here, and they're not going anywhere until they hear the whole story."

"Come on into Elam's room, and we'll tell you everything," Narsus said and led Gieve and Farangis down the hall to his brother's room.


	6. Chapter 6

As Elam and the others were explaining their situation to Gieve and Farangis, Mikey was climbing a tree in Slender Man's forest, humming the Empire theme from _Star Wars_. His reasoning was that, in climbing a tree, he'd have a better view of the entire forest, that way he and everyone else would be able to find the remaining pages faster, despite Raph telling him it wouldn't work.

Back on the ground, everybody else was watching Mikey as he made his way up the tree, hoping he wouldn't fall and/or hurt himself. As they watched, Raph turned to Leo and asked, "Why is he humming the Empire theme from _Star Wars_?"

"It's catchy," Leo replied and shrugged.

"Mikey, I think I've gotta agree with Raph on this one," Estelle called. "I highly doubt the programmers designed this game so the character could find the pages by climbing up a tree."

"I don't know," Alfreed said to the younger girl. "It _could_ work. If nothing else, he'll at least get a good view of the area."

"I say you should get down," Arslan called to Mikey. "That looks dangerous! You could fall and seriously hurt yourself, you know!"

"Relax, guys," Mikey called back in a nonchalant manner. "Everything's under control--Whoawhoawhoa!" He lost his footing for a bit, making everyone nervous. The kids on the ground breathed a collective sigh of relief when they saw Mikey grab onto a branch just in time. "I'm okay," he called down and grinned.

"Mikey, don't you dare scare us like that again!" Raph yelled.

"Raph!" Leo said warningly.

"Don't 'Raph' _me_ , Leo!" Raph shot back.

"Alright, you two, calm down," Arslan broke in. "All that matters is Mikey didn't get hurt." Raph and Leo completely ignored him, while Mikey tuned his brothers out in favor of surveying the area.

As Mikey was looking around, he saw what looked to be a sheet of paper lying by a tree to the left of the one he currently occupied, a couple miles away. Further ahead of the sheet of paper, he spotted what appeared to be a cabin. He was ready to tell them when he heard Donnie scream. He jumped down and saw Donnie covering his own eyes, as though he was trying to look away from something he'd just seen.

"Donnie?" Shireen asked. "What's wrong?"

"Slender Man!" Donnie replied. "I looked at him." Leo was about to look in the direction Donnie was pointing, when Donnie exclaimed, "Don't look!"

"He's here now, isn't he?" Leo asked.

"Yes...and I looked at him!" Donnie replied frightfully.

"You looked at him?!" a flabbergasted Raph asked.

"I didn't mean to!" said Donnie.

"Hey, it's okay," Leo said, trying to reassure his brother. "I'm sure he's gone by now."

"You promise?" Donnie asked, still shaken up. "No tricks?"

"No," Leo said and smiled. "Who do you think I am, Raph?"

Raph glared at Leo. " _Me?_ What about _Mikey_?"

"Playing tricks like that isn't Mikey's style," said Leo. "He would've gotten all of us with water balloons or something like that."

"Well, Slendy's definitely gone," Alfreed announced after sweeping her gaze around the area.

Arslan breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good."

After a moment, Mikey put an arm around Donnie's shoulder and asked, "Are you gonna be okay, D?"

"Yeah, I think I'll be alright," said Donnie.

"I know what my bro needs," Mikey said cheerfully. He put his arms around Donnie. "A hug!"

"So, what did you find up there?" Arslan asked Mikey.

"There's a page up ahead to the left!" Mikey replied and grinned. "And a little ways away from the tree is a cabin."

"You know, I remember finding pages in a cabin when I played earlier," Donnie said. "That might be the same one."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Mikey asked, ready to go right away. "Come on!" Mikey led the others in the direction of the next page, all while humming the Empire theme again.

After a few moments of Mikey humming, Raph became very irritated with his youngest brother. "Hamato Michelangelo, if you don't stop humming right now, I'll pound you into the ground!"

Mikey immediately stopped humming and said, "Sorry, Raph." He and the others quietly continued on their way.

* * *

Back in the real world, Elam and the others had just finished explaining the situation to Gieve and Farangis.

"So let me get this straight," Farangis said. "Arslan and the other kids have four new friends, who are humanoid turtles with some ninja weapons."

"That's right," Elam replied.

"And they're trapped in a computer game, and you're trying to get them out," Farangis went on.

"Exactly," said Hermes.

"I don't mean to sound judgemental, but you all sound nuts," said Farangis.

"They're not crazy," Gieve said. "I met those turtles a couple weeks ago. The turtles are real, and the computer thing's most likely true as well."

"Besides, Farangis," Elam chimed in. " _You're_ one to talk. Imagine people's reactions if you told them about your magic practice."

Farangis thought for a moment, then replied, "Fair enough. Okay, so...what do we do?" She and Gieve got closer to Elam's computer.

"Well," Elam replied confidently. "Using my hacking skills, I figured out the program used to trap everyone in the game. I also figured out Baxter Stockman was the one who trapped them in there."

"Baxter Stockman?" Farangis asked.

"That nut from the news?" Gieve finished.

"But how is that possible?" Farangis asked again.

"I'm not sure," Elam replied.

"So, when are we getting them out?" asked Gieve.

"As soon as I get their current in-game whereabouts," said Elam. "I need a target to lock on to if I'm going to use my program."

"Is this going to work?" asked Farangis.

"I'm positive it will," said Elam. "Remember, I'm using the same program Stockman used when he trapped them in the game." He went to work on locating the others, until a few moments later, when he announced he found them. He started pressing various keys to start the program to get his friends out of the game.

* * *

Back in the game, the kids had just found the page, and were nearing the cabin Mikey mentioned.

"There it is," Mikey said and pointed to the cabin. "The cabin in the woods. Just like that scary movie! Only without all the scary stuff in the movie."

"I don't know," Estelle said. "It's in _Slender_ , so that alone makes it scary already."

"Maybe we could cut the scary talk and just focus on getting out of here?" Arslan suggested.

"He's right," Leo agreed and looked from the cabin to the others. "Come on, team. Let's go!"

The kids were about to go towards the cabin when Shireen asked, "Um, guys? Is there supposed to be a mysterious light in this game?" She pointed above the cabin. The others looked to where Shireen was pointing and, sure enough, saw a light. As they watched it, the light became bigger, until it was as big as they were.

"What is it?" Alfreed asked with wonder.

Donnie walked up to the light. "Looks like some kind of portal."

"It could be a way out of here," Raph said.

"Or it could lead to another one of Stockman's traps," said Leo.

Estelle stepped towards the portal. "I'll take my chances."

"Wait, Estelle, don't!" said Leo.

"Look," Estelle replied, looking at the others. "If _you_ want to keep playing this game, that's fine with me. _I_ , on the other hand, am out of here." She jumped through the portal, leaving the others.

"I'm going, too," said Arslan. He, too, went through the portal.

"Ars! Wait for me!" Shireen called to her brother, jumping through the portal as well.

"Those three are smart," said Alfreed. "I'm not sticking around here anymore." She went through the portal.

"Me neither," said Raph. "I'm outta here!" He followed Alfreed. So did Mikey and Donnie, until Leo stopped them.

"Guys, you don't know what could be on the other side!"

"Can't be any worse than being stuck in here," said Mikey.

Leo thought about what Mikey said and agreed. "All right. Let's go." On the count of three, they followed everyone else through the portal.

* * *

In the real world, Stockman saw what had just happened with dismay. "Nooooo! My plans are foiled _again_! Those reptilian bastards!"

* * *

At Narsus and Elam's house, they and their friends were watching the computer with anticipation.

"Incoming!" Elam shouted, but it was too late for anyone to get out of the way. The group that was trapped in the game came flying out of the computer, crashing right into the group that wasn't trapped.

"Whew!" Arslan said, relieved to be back in New York. "I'm glad to be out of that game."

"Yeah, I'm glad, too, Ars," Hermes said irritably. "Now, could you please get off my back?"

Arslan looked down to see he was indeed sitting on his cousin. Boy, did Lord Silvermask look annoyed! He quickly got up and helped Hermes off the floor. "Sorry, cuz."

Alfreed groaned and looked down to see she had landed on Elam. Both children screamed and jumped away from each other, brushing themselves off.

"Ugh! Cooties!" Elam shouted.

"Come on, Elam, you're thirteen, not three," an annoyed Narsus said.

"Oh my gosh, I'm _so_ sorry!" Donnie said when he realized he landed on someone. He looked down and saw he'd landed on Narsus.

"That's alright," said Narsus after Donnie got off him and helped him up. "I get hit on the head by my own art at least once a month."

"If you can call it art," Daryun said. He had caught Shireen and was still holding her.

"Cut it out, Bonehead!" Narsus said and stuck his tongue out at Daryun.

"Mikey, I'm glad you're safe," said Raph. "But could you please get off my shell?"

"And would you both please get off my stomach?" Xandes asked uncomfortably. Raph had landed on him, and Mikey on Raph.

Leo looked around and said, "What did I just land on?" He then saw, to his embarrassment, that he'd landed across Farangis. "Oh...hi."

"Hi," said Farangis. "Would you please get off me?"

"Sorry," said Leo. "This is awkward." He got off Farangis, and she herself got up off the floor.

Gieve saw the interaction between Leo and Farangis. The mere sight of it made his blood boil, so much so that he pushed Estelle off him and marched over to the pair. Estelle got up and glared at Gieve, really wishing to punch him. She would have, if Arslan hadn't held her back.

Gieve got right in Leo's face and hissed, "You stay away from her, you perverted reptile!"

Farangis rolled her eyes. "Gieve, he only crashed into me by accident. _You've_  crashed into me _on purpose_ , and tried to say it was an accident."

"Farangis!" Gieve whined. Then he glared at Leo and said quietly, "I'm watching you!" That made Leo uncomfortable.

Arslan saw Gieve's behavior and broke in. "Okay, okay, Gieve, that's enough." He set about introducing Narsus and Farangis to the Turtles. "Narsus, Farangis, these are my new friends: Leo, Raph, Donnie and Mikey." Then he turned to the Turtles and said, "Guys, this is Elam's big brother Narsus, and my other friend, Farangis Ravenclaw."

"Nice to meet you guys!" said Mikey.

"Pleasure," said Narsus. He pointed at Daryun and continued, "You guys had best watch out for Daryun. He's a world-class idiot when it comes to the world of art. In fact, he doesn't even appreciate it!"

"Narsus, for the umpteenth time, I appreciate art," said Daryun. " _You_ just don't make any!"

"Oh, there you go again with--" Narsus began, but was cut off by Elam.

"Bro, not now, okay?" Elam sounded tired. "It's been a long night."

"I'd like to kick Stinkman's scrawny butt for that scary experience!" said Raph.

"I _do_ have Stockman's last known address if you want," Alfreed offered. She pulled out a piece of paper with an address written on it. "He and my uncle used to hang out sometimes when they worked at TCRI."

Raph took the address and grinned. "Gee, thanks!" He and his brothers smiled and went to take their revenge.

* * *

Five minutes later, Stockman was in his apartment, ranting about his foiled plan. He heard a knock on the door, and a voice calling, _"Chinese food!"_ He opened the door and started to say he never ordered any Chinese food, faltering when he saw who was really at his door. "Uh...hey. Turtles. It's been a while. You're not...sore about the game, are you?"

"Oh, you mean when you trapped us and our friends in _Slender_ , and almost got us killed?" Raph asked. "Yeah. We're sore."

Stockman gulped and backed away from the Turtles. "Please, don't beat me up."

"Too late," said Leo. He and his brothers advanced on Stockman, who started screaming as the Turtles paid him back for what he did.

As the other three were beating Stockman up, Donnie spotted what appeared to be a very advanced-looking laptop on Stockman's desk. He went over to look at it. Upon further inspection, he spotted the Kraang logo on the top. He shook his head and thought, _'I might've known. Kraang tech. He must have picked it up without realizing what it was.'_ He picked it up, then turned around and said to his brothers, "Guys, we should get out of here before the neighbors call the cops."

"Seconded," Leo agreed. With that, they left, leaving Stockman in his apartment. They later walked back to Elam's place and explained their findings to their friends.


End file.
